CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 008

Everybody gets shot now and then.

the Bronze Terror: 

The Bronze Terror is shot in the left arm during his first adventure by the wicked Scar Thornton, which gives him an excuse to show off his penchant for knocking out crooks' teeth. (Daredevil Comics 002, 1941)

Whiz, King of Falcons: 

Whiz is shot through the left wing by a Lord Haw-Haw analog, and since this is the one issue in which he has the power of speech, he gets to complain about it. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941)

Trojak the Tiger Man: 

Clawed across the chest by a lion. (Daring Mystery Comics 002, 1940)

the Mask:

The Mask gets his head creased by a bullet. (Exciting Comics 007, 1941)

Sub-Zero: 

Sub-Zero has an eventful 1941: first he gets shot in the right shoulder while parachuting... (Blue Bolt v1 012, 1941)

 ... then breaks his right leg while in pursuit of a suspect... (Blue Bolt v2 001, 1941

... and finally gets his skull creased by some trigger-happy miscreants.  (Blue Bolt v2 005, 1941

the White Rider:

The White Rider gets himself generically shot during his very first attempt to mete out vigilante justice, and it's a lucky thing for him that he has Super Horse or there wouldn't be a second. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

Dr Miracle:

Dr Miracle takes a thrown stiletto to the right shoulder while he is physically merger with his manservant Akim, which might also make this a stiletto to Akim's shoulder as well. The physics of the situation are unclear. (Champ Comics 012, 1941)

the Sphinx:

Though he has in the past proved himself broadly invulnerable, the Sphinx is not immune to getting his skull creased by a bullet. (Exciting Comics 008, 1941) 

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 007

All Novelty Press edition!

Dick Cole, Wonder-Boy: 

Dick Cole was left on the front steps of scientist Professor Blair as a baby, and according to him there was an accompanying note requesting that he use his hitherto-untested experimental child-rearing techniques to bring the kid up to be superhuman. And it works! Dick Cole is stronger and faster and smarter than everyone else, and works to help those around him in whatever way he can.

Sadly for me the Dick Cole series is set at a military academy, a surprisingly popular location in early comics. I think that the weird pseudo-military class structure that such places had/have was popular for the easy drama inherent in the noble protagonists being forced to kowtow to undeserving upperclassmen but reading comics about teenagers being assholes to each other for imaginary reasons palls quickly. (ADDENDUM: I wrote this at the beginning of my Dick Cole reading and am pleased to say that the military academy stuff isn't as bad as it is in other comics of the time) (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

BONUS: here's Dick Cole as a very cool baby.

Sub-Zero:

AKA Sub-Zero Man. Part of a Venusian expedition to Earth whose extremely awesome looking spaceship crashed through a frozen gas ball en route, killing everyone but Our Hero, who instead becomes uncontrollably and destructively super-cold.

After a couple of issues of misunderstood wandering and being hunted, Sub-Zero endears himself to the city of Centro... Oregon? by saving it from a volcano. (highway signs place Centro somewhere between Los Angeles and Topeka, so it's probably either Oregon or Northern California, and Oregon is closer to volcano country). There, he settles down to a regular super-hero life, albeit one with no secret identity, Centro slowly becomes NYC like so many other comic book cities and people basically forget the fact that he's an alien. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

the Phantom Sub: 

A bunch of young men led by Jack Damon and Slim Dugan construct an advanced submarine in secret, as you do, and end up as wanted fugitives dispensing justice on the high seas via an electrified water cannon and some plucky attitudes. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

Near the end of 1941 the Phantom Sub added the power of flight to its many features, and shortly after that the Phantom Sub crew were able to come in from the cold and begin aiding the US war effort. (Blue Bolt v2 006, 1941)

the White Rider and Super Horse:

During a stagecoach holdup, a youngster named Peter (no last name given) is orphaned and flung into a river that eventually flows into the mysterious Lost Valley, where he befriends and is raised by an old hermit named Jeb and a cool horse named Cloud. Eventually, the hermit dies of puma and Peter and Cloud make their way to the outside world where it turns out that due to the valley's depth it somehow had more gravity and thus the two are super strong. Anyhow, Peter immediately hunts down and kills the bandit who orphaned him and resolves to stamp out crime as the White Rider and Super Horse. 

Despite the superpowers the White Rider is a bit of a dud, hero-wise and Super Horse does most of the heavy lifting, both literally and metaphorically. (Blue Bolt v1 001)